Waste Reduction Week is off to a great start with events and activities happening across Canada. Manitoba communities, schools, institutions and businesses are taking part. Some of the organizations declaring Waste Reduction Week this year include the Province of Manitoba, Brandon Regional Health Authority, University of Manitoba and the City of Brandon.
“There are countless steps we can take individually and collectively to live greener, and many of them are relatively easy and can have big environmental impacts,” said Josh Brandon, Waste Reduction Week coordinator with Green Action Centre. “The point of Waste Reduction Week is to celebrate some of these small initiatives, and to incorporate them into our daily activities so that sustainability becomes a part of how we do things on a regular basis.”
A new feature of Waste Reduction Week in Manitoba this year is the Recycle My Cell Student Challenge. The program is a friendly competition among schools across Manitoba to see which school can bring in the most cell phones to recycle. The school which brings in the most phones wins $500 for their school’s green programs.
Classrooms across Brandon, Manitoba have their own school challenge promoting the three Rs of reducing, re-using and recycling as well as environmental art, and other green activities. The winning class will receive re-useable lunch kits and a photo with the Mayor.
Waste Reduction Week is a national event to raise awareness about the importance of reducing our environmental footprint and to celebrate the activities we are taking to live greener in our schools, workplaces, homes and communities. It runs from Oct 15 to 22. Waste Reduction Week is coordinated in Manitoba by Green Action Centre. To register your organization, or proclaim Waste Reduction Week in your community go to: wrwcanada.com.
